Yellow Moon: Themes

Yellow Moon follows the journey of two teenagers, Leila and Lee. Through their story, David Greig explores a range of important themes. These include:

• youth and growing up

• relationships (romantic and family)

• crime and violence

• fantasy vs reality

Yellow Moon explores the challenges of growing up. Through Leila and Lee, the play shows how young people can struggle with identity. There is conflict between the characters' views of themselves, the expectations of others, and the reality of their situations. , finding their place in the world relationships, and the expectations of others.

Lee demonstrates a type of teenage masculinity where there is pressure to appear tough and confident. He talks a lot about crime and sex, but this often hides his insecurity.

At the beginning of the play he fantasises about being a “pimp” with Leila as one of his “does”. This play on words suggests that Leila is a doe, one of a number of female deer that he, as a 'Stag', might control and mate with, and also rhymes closely with the derogatory modern term “ho”, which Lee also uses, referring to sex workers. Even to himself he feels the need to project an image of himself as being powerful and in control. He shows a lack of concern or understanding of women, that reflects his immaturity. His impulsive behaviour shows a lack of guidance and reflects his difficult home life.

Leila is seen as a “good girl” who is expected to succeed. However, she struggles with low self-worth. She chooses not to speak because she feels unheard:

"people hear what they want to hear, it doesn’t matter what you say. So I stopped bothering.”

Her silence shows how some young people’s problems can go unnoticed, even when they seem to be coping.

Both characters feel trapped by their lives and try to escape. Lee escapes into fantasies of crime and power, while Leila escapes into celebrity culture and imagination. Their decision to run away reflects a desire for freedom.

Both characters seem uncertain in how to develop into the adults they want to be. Neither finds the guidance or support they need from the adults in their lives. Instead, they rely on unrealistic ideas of what a grown up man or woman should be: Lee's idea of masculinity, Leila's obsession with celebrity culture.

As the play develops, both characters begin to grow up. Leila finds her voice and becomes more confident, while Lee starts to understand the consequence of his actions. They achieve this through their relationship with each other, rather than learning from the culture they have been exposed to, or the adults in their lives.

Their journey shows that adolescence is a time of change, where difficult experiences can lead to a better understanding of yourself.

Crime and violence are important themes in Yellow Moon. At the start of the play, Lee is attracted to a life of crime. He steals and pawns Billy’s ring, takes drugs, shoplifts and talks about becoming a pimp. He sees crime as exciting and glamorous, echoing the legendary Stag Lee ballad.

The play shows the serious consequences of violence. Lee kills Billy during a short confrontation after being mocked and provoked. This shows how quickly violence can get out of control. Although Lee regrets what he has done, he continues to behave recklessly and commits other crimes when he runs away with Leila.

The play also shows how crime can repeat across generations. Frank, Lee’s father, has a past involving violence, prison and drugs. Like Lee, he comes from a difficult background. He admits that he is not a “bad man” but “lost”, suggesting that his actions are shaped by his circumstances.

By the end of the play, Lee begins to change. He realises that his choices could lead him to the same life as his father. Although he briefly imagines fighting the police, he decides not to run or use violence. With Leila’s support, he chooses to face the consequences of his actions.

Yellow Moon shows that while crime might seem like a route out of a difficult life, it has serious and lasting consequences. It raises questions about how much someone's behaviour is the result of their circumstances, their own personality, or the choices that they make. In the end, the play suggests that people can choose to break the cycle and change their future.

Love and relationships are key themes in Yellow Moon. Romantic and family relationships shape the characters and influence the choices they make. The play shows that love is often complicated and imperfect.

Romantic relationships (Leila and Lee)

Despite the difficult circumstances in which their relationship develops, Leila and Lee have a positive influence on each other. For Leila, Lee represents excitement and escape from the pressures of her controlled life. As they grow closer, he treats her with care and makes her feel valued. For Lee, Leila offers understanding and support that are missing from his life.

At the start of the play, Lee presents himself as confident and sexually experienced. He boasts about girls and tells Leila “I’m a prize”. However, it becomes clear that this is an act. When they become physically close, his inexperience is revealed:

I don’t know what to do – I don’t know what you want –

This suggests that his “tough” identity hides insecurity.

As their relationship develops, Lee becomes more open and affectionate to Leila. Leila sees the real person behind his act. In the final scene, she reassures him:

you’re not bad … you’re good.

She encourages him to take responsibility for his actions and promises that she will wait for him. It could be seen that Lee only reveals more about his true self because of the feelings of love and trust between him and Leila.

Their relationship offers a sense of hope even in a difficult situation. It suggests that love can help people to grow and make better choices.

Family relationships

Family relationships in Yellow Moon are often difficult and complicated.

Lee lives with his mother, Jenni, who struggles with depression (“a feeling she calls the black dog”). She drinks to cope and often shuts herself away, leaving Lee without emotional support.

Jenni's boyfriend, Billy, is cruel to Lee, calling him “a catastrophe … a disgrace”. This unstable home life contributes to Lee’s anger and his desire for escape.

Leila’s family life is very different. She lives in a comfortable home with her parents, who are both successful professionals. However, this brings pressure. It is expected that she will succeed academically:

One day she will go to Aberdeen University to study English and she will most likely get a first because Leila Suleiman is a good girl.

These high expectations contribute to her low self-worth. Running away with Lee allows Leila to escape this pressure and challenge her “good girl” image.

Lee also struggles with the absence of his father. He imagines him as a powerful and successful figure:

He was the king of Glasgow. He made money. And he never got caught.

This vision of a legendary outlaw contrasts with the reality of his real father, Frank, who is flawed and emotionally distance.

Despite this, Frank does care about Lee. He gives Lee and Leila a place to stay when they’re in trouble and he worries about losing Lee again, who he describes as “a good boy.” He believes he has failed as a father and takes responsibility for Lee killing Billy.

Frank finds it difficult to show love, which causes tension with Lee. Leila understands that Frank struggles to accept that love, like life, is often flawed:

He thought love was supposed to look like the morning or something, all birds tweeting and sun in the blue sky … but love isn’t like that is it?

Yellow Moon shows that love and relationships are often imperfect, and can be shaped by personal struggles and difficult circumstances.

In Yellow Moon, characters often blur the line between fantasy and reality as a way of coping with difficult lives.

Lee imagines his life as a kind of story, influenced by the Stagger Lee ballad. He creates a fantasy version of his father as a powerful gangster who “never got caught” and who lives a life of luxury. This helps him to escape the reality of his unstable home life.

When Lee meets his real father, the truth is very different. Frank is an alcoholic gamekeeper, not a glamorous outlaw, and his life is marked by regret and failure. He rejects Lee’s romantic way of thinking, insisting that real life is “not a story". Frank’s death forces Lee to face reality and understand that real life cannot be controlled or rewritten like a story.

Leila also escapes into fantasy by reading celebrity magazines, which make her feel “real like she’s in a story.” However, when she meets Holly, she realises that the perfect lives in the magazines are not real and that everyone has challenges to face.

The play shows that while fantasy can offer escape, it is also misleading. Growing up involves learning to accept reality, even when it is difficult.